39 Ford Project

[BamaNomad]

those 39 parts are looking great Brian, and are going to look even BETTER with some epoxy primer on them and all screwed back together.. Sorry to hear about your air compressor problem...

Speaking of 5 hp electric motors: My 50 yr old compressor (two stage IR pump, HUGE 5 hp motor, and replaced 80 gallon horiz tank). The 5 hp motor on that compressor (I think it's original) is approximately 4X larger physically than the 'so called' 5-hp electric motors that have been available the past 30 yrs or so... Makes me wonder how the ways the specs are written and tested have changed?

[Custer55]

those 39 parts are looking great Brian, and are going to look even BETTER with some epoxy primer on them and all screwed back together.. Sorry to hear about your air compressor problem...

Speaking of 5 hp electric motors: My 50 yr old compressor (two stage IR pump, HUGE 5 hp motor, and replaced 80 gallon horiz tank). The 5 hp motor on that compressor (I think it's original) is approximately 4X larger physically than the 'so called' 5-hp electric motors that have been available the past 30 yrs or so... Makes me wonder how the ways the specs are written and tested have changed?

Thanks Gary,
I'm not sure how they come up with the hp ratings on electric motors but mine was for sure overrated. When I was looking at replacements I think you have to look at the amps they draw at the voltage you have. Mine being 230 volts and 15 amps is more like a 3 to 4 hp motor. From what I was looking at it would need to be about 20 to 23 amps to be a true 5 hp motor.
Someone else that knows more about how they are rated may have a better idea of what a true 5 hp motor specs would be.
Brian

[Custer55]

Progress Update


So with all the media blasting done on the body I found some new rust areas that needed repair. The weather that week was below normal so it wasn't a good time to spray any primer anyway so I figured I might as well work on fixing some of the rust until the weather warmed up again.



The rear inner wheel wells are pretty solid for the most part but had some small rust areas where the rear fenders bolt in and where there was inner structure that trapped moisture between the panels. Most of it was small pin holes that I could just weld shut but a few spots needed patches. The one above was a fairly small patch.



Patch tacked in place.



Fully welded and ground out. No need to get these perfect as they are in a position that would be pretty hard to see with the fender bolted in place and the wheel well with eventually be finished with either bedliner material or undercoating.



The passenger side had a spot that needed a much bigger patch.



Cut out and ready for the patch.



Lower part of the patch tacked in place. I had intended to do the patch in one piece but after fighting with it for a while to get if fitted up I just decide to do it a half at a time.



Top half of the patch tacked in place. I forgot to get a picture of it fully welded and ground out.



And another small patch towards the back of the car. Below and to the left of the patch I had to cut the inner wheel well and bend it up to get at the gas tank bolts. Here is has been bent back in place and welded back together. I had to do a similar cut and and bend on the drivers side.



And they worst of the rust was in the lower corner of the passenger side rear quarter panel.



Rust as well as some bent metal to repair here.

[Custer55]

I ended up cutting out a section to straighten it out off the car.



With the dents straightened out so I could use what was left of it to create a patch panel.



The first step was to make the inner flange and tack it to the original piece and add a temporary brace to locate the bumper brace opening where if belonged.



Lower part patched and clamped in place to check the fit. This is why I have not done anything with the tail pan yet that will eventually need to be replaced. I knew I would need it to line up the patch in this corner.



Upper area cut out to fit that area for the patch panel.


Top part fitted and welded in place as well as a small piece to recreate the upper area of the bumper bracket opening. In all took 5 pieces including what was left of the original to create the patch. And this is just for the inside portion of what needs to be repaired.



And finally tacked in place on the car for good. Now to cut out the rusted area on the right and make a patch panel for that side.



Right hand side patch panel tacked in place. This was a tricky one to fit up as the area curves in 2 different opposite directions. I didn't get it perfect but it shouldn't take to much filler to make it right.



And one last patch on the inner wheel well to tie it all together.



Fully welded and ground out this area is in much better shape. Finally ready to start prepping the body for epoxy primer.
Brian

[Custer55]

So I have some metalwork and rust repairs left to do on the cowl area of the body but since the weather is starting to turn colder I decided to start getting primer on the body and a few other parts that are ready to go.





The body all sanded out and ready for primer pushed outside to blow off as much dust as possible. For an area to spray the paint I used the same plastic hung from the ceiling that I had used for sandblasting and extended it out to the garage door. I did this as much to keep the paint overspray off everything else in the garage as keeping the spray area clean.


This car has a lot of pitted areas where there was surface rust which was all sandblasted but to make sure no rust would ever come back through and to fill in some of the pits I painted those areas with a couple of coats of Tamco 5311 direct to rust high build primer then block sanded those areas before spraying the epoxy primer. The Tamco 5311 is a direct to metal high build primer that has rust encapsulating properties. You could use it to spray the whole car if you wanted. I am using epoxy over it for the long term moisture sealing qualities the epoxy has.













With a couple of coats of epoxy on the body it looks much better. The Tamco epoxy lays down very nice even with my cheap Harbor Freight spray gun (the cheapest model the sell). I didn't spray the sides of cowl yet as I have some body work and rust repair to do in that area yet as well as a recessed firewall to install. I did not paint the frame at all at this point either as I need to prep the frame better before spraying that.




So with the body mostly done I set up a smaller area by the garage door to spray the hood, doors and fenders.
This way I can keep the overspray off the freshly painted body.

[Custer55]

So I could paint the hood and the door that is ready to go I bought a couple of the folding work stands from Harbor Freight which worked out nicely.



Hood and door painted on the inside.





Hood and door flipped over to get a couple coats of epoxy on the outside.



The last part I have ready to go right now is the drivers side rear fender. Since this is lighter weight I hung it up so I could paint both sides at the same time.





A couple of coats of the 5311 Direct to Rust sprayed on. The direct to rust sprays pretty nice also but you do need to use a 1.8 to 2.0 tip depending on your mix ratio. You can use is as a sealer also by using more reducer. I dries fast and sands pretty easy as well.



Inside of the fender sanded out ready for epoxy. Just basically scuffed it good on the inside so any rust that was left would be sealed up well.



The outside I bock sanded it out to just leave the DTR in the rust pits and low spots.






And finally a couple coats of epoxy inside and out.

[Custer55]

So after a couple of days of dry time I got the fender and door back on the car which is as good a place as any to store them for now. When I painted the hood, door and fender the weather had started cooling off and shop temps were just under 60 degrees. At that temp the parts seemed to be curing very slowly so I turned the furnace up to get just over 60 for a couple of days and they seem to be cured much better now so 60 degrees or over is what the shop needs to be for the epoxy. Our weather has really turned colder this week (30's and low 40's for highs for at least the next week). The rest of what I need to get in epoxy all needs metal work anyway so that works out ok. Hopefully we will have a warm spell later this month or early in November so I can get a few more parts done. I can turn the heat up in the shop if I need to but I prefer not to have the furnace running a lot when I am painting. I normally just keep the shop about 50 degrees of less during the winter months.








A couple of shots with the door and fender in place. Now on to more metal and rust repairs.
Brian

[BamaNomad]

Brian, your '39 Ford sure looks LOTS BETTER after all your body work and with the black epoxy on it now!

[Custer55]

Brian, your '39 Ford sure looks LOTS BETTER after all your body work and with the black epoxy on it now!

Thanks Gary. It sure does look a lot better than what I started with. Still a bunch of work left though and lots of other projects around the house that need my attention too!!

[Belair-o]

Brian,
Wow! You have come a long ways! Looks wonderfully smooth and restored. Very nice job!
Regards, Doug

[Custer55]

Brian,
Wow! You have come a long ways! Looks wonderfully smooth and restored. Very nice job!
Regards, Doug

Thanks Doug, It's far from perfect but not too bad considering I have not used any body filler yet.
Brian

[Custer55]

Wow, It has been over 4 months since my last post. I has just started working on the passenger side rear fender when I decided to upgrade the heating system in our house to in-floor radiant heat. We started working on that project in late October and got it up and running by late in January and then spent the next month or so getting the house back in order. It ended up being quite a time consuming project as it involved installing 7 pex tubing loops underneath the floors. Basically a loop of tubing in each joist bay so holes had to be drilled in most of the floor joists and a whole bunch of protruding nails had to be cut off before stapling/screwing up the pex with heat transfer plates. And doing some removal and modifications to the existing duct work (we will still use if for the central air and as a back up heat system) so it ended up taking about a week to install each of the 6 main floor loops and a couple weeks for the 1 upstairs loop. That one took longer because we had to remove a ceiling in one downstairs room and the tile and tileboard in the upstairs bathroom. Then that bathroom had to have new tile installed, all the baseboard and door trim replaced. Once all that was done I installed the boiler, pumps, control box and plumbing to make it all work. Thankfully my brother who was a plumber and has done lots of these systems in the past was able to help me get if up and running and answer all of my dumb questions along the way. It has been working good since we got it going, the house is much more comfortable with the warm floors!! Our cat loves it too, it didn't take him to long to figure out where the warm spots on the floor are.
Anyway here is where I was at on the rear fender before we started that project.
Here is a few pics of the damage to be repaired.

Some rust here where dirt gets between a brace on the inside and the outer fender


Here where the fender bolts to the body and the running board.


More rust where the fender bolts to the body. (same place as the inner fender needed repair!!


And more rust and dents on the lower rear section.


The easiest repair on this one was a crease which came out without to much trouble, should just need a skim coat of filler.


I made a pattern off the drivers side rear fender to make a patch for the lower rear section.


Patch fitted up to the fender. I had intended the patch to farther to the rear but couldn't get it to fit right so it got cut off shorter.


Front part of the patch tacked in place and the rear damage cut out and smaller patch bent to shape.




Rear section clamped and then tack welded in place.
Brian

[Custer55]

One more patch needed to finish up the bottom edge.


Formed up and clamped in place.


And tacked in place.


And on to the lower rear corner. Just a small patch here cut down and formed to fit the shape of the fender.


With the fender cut out for the patch panel you can see the inner brace which caused the rust by trapping dirt and moisture.


Tack welded in place. This is where I left off before starting on the in-floor radiant heat project at the end of October.


So a couple of weeks ago with some time and ambition to work on the 39 again I started by finishing the welding and grinding on the patches I had tacked in place.


And the lower rear corner done.


Damage cut out at the front of the fender where it meets the running board. I left the inner part alone for now so the shape of the fender where it bolts to the running board will stay the same.


At this point I bolted the fender back in place to fit up this patch.
Brian

[Custer55]

I tacked this one in place with the fender still bolted in place so nothing would get out of shape.


So on to the inner part of the patch. I made this from 2 pieces which I then tacked together while clamped in place.


Here the patch is fully welded together and bead rolled reinforcement added similar to what the original fender had.


Fitted up and ready to tack in place.


And tack welded in place.


And the last rusty are of this fender to need a patch panel.


Fitting up a patch for this section.


Fitted and tack welded in place.


Fully welded and ground out looking much better.


Bolted back on the car again (as good a place as any to store it for now.) it fits pretty well after some tweaking to remove the weld distortion in the patch areas.
Brian

[Custer55]

And finally to get caught to where I am at a couple more pictures of the fender bolted back in place.



So next up will be the passenger side door of the trunk. I have not decided which one to do next. Might depend on which one is easier to get at in my messy shop!!!
Brian